I'm an independent journalist who has covered automotive marketing since 1994- the longest consecutive tenure on the beat than any other US reporter.
From 1996 to early 2010 I was the Detroit Bureau Chief of Advertising Age, a post I had held earlier at Adweek.
I have worked as a journalist in every medium. I started my career as a new script writer for ABC's Detroit-owned radio station, WXYZ AM for the all-news' morning drive and later moved to TV news' script writing.
I covered a variety of public and private businesses as a staff reporter for Crain's Detroit Business for seven years.
I am a native New Yorker and graduate of Rider University.

Ford's C-MAX Hybrid Challenges Market Leader

Ford Motor Co.’s new C-MAX Hybrid is taking on the 800-pound gorilla in the segment, Toyota’s Prius.

Photo credit: Ford

Not an easy task since Ford is starting from zero. The C-MAX is a new nameplate with no recognition. The Prius has been the top dog in the category since arriving in the U.S. in 2000 as a gas-hybrid sedan. Like Prius, C-MAX will have more than one model.

But Ford figures its C-MAX Hybrid has several competitive advantages against the Toyota, especially the Prius v wagon model. Ford will be hammering away at those advantages in a multi-media, national ad campaign arriving tonight on television, with parts of the blitz continuing for 15 months, including this: Hybrid Games

The base price for the C-MAX is $25,995 (with destination fees), or $1,300 lower than the Prius v. The Ford also gets better fuel economy, 47 miles per gallon both city and highway, or seven mpg better than the Prius v.

Matt VanDyke, marketing director in the U.S. for Ford, said the C-MAX has other qualities that best the Toyota. “It has absolute performance- 50 more horsepower than the Prius v- with more room and more technology.”

Although Prius has a slew of loyal owners, VanDyke added “we are looking to position our vehicle as an alternative because there will be people who want a hybrid, but want something different.”

Kristen Andersson, a senior analyst at TrueCar, said Ford’s biggest challenges with the C-MAX will be to conquest and attract new buyers, especially since Toyota has dominated with its Prius lineup for some time and customers are very comfortable with it. “Ford is the new kid on the block and there’s some exciting new features, a new design, and technology in the interior that will bring new customers into showrooms,” she said.

The cars are trickling into showrooms now. Ford has already sold nearly 1,000 units with trade-ins coming from virtually all rivals and from other Ford products, VanDyke said.

Andersson noted that for the C-MAX, “Ford is smart in their marketing in appealing to families, something that Toyota has not done in the past.” Aiming at a specific demographic that’s not being targeted is a good way to draw customers, she said.

The C-MAX ad campaign stars an animated character created by late Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli. The simple “La Linea” character, popular in the U.S. in the 1970s through 1986, will appear in all C-MAX communications.The launch encompasses digital, print ads, out-of-home ads and events. WPP Group’s TeamDetroit in Dearborn handles the Ford account. Here’s one of the commercials

Hybrids make up about 3% of the marketplace and are expected to account for about 4% in 2014, Andersson said.

Ford says it plans to triple production of hybrids and electric vehicles to more than 100,000 by 2013. The company also sells the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lincoln MKZ, fully-electric Ford Focus and will soon add two plug-in hybrids, the C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi.

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